A Paper Connection
by TwoLittleBirds
Summary: Jasper Whitlock is a soldier who has nobody to write home to, but when he meets a waitress, Alice Brandon, all of that is about to change. All human.
1. Shy Boy

**AN: The idea for this Fic came to me whilst I was listening to Travellin' Soldier by The Dixie Chicks. Its very slightly based on that ;) I own nothing but my OC's.**

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Alice looked up from her notepad at the sound of the grinding engine. The truck was moving forwards with an awkward swagger, and Alice groaned. It was bound to be filled with rowdy soldiers. There was a military camp near by, and since the diner where Alice worked was the only one for miles around, they always came here on their breaks. Alice turned around to switch on the coffee maker. Babs was grinning from the other end of the counter.

"Your favourite type of customer" She winked. Alice smiled grimly back; the soldiers always flocked around her when they arrived.

The truck had stopped, and about twenty men were dropping down onto the ground. They jostled each other, laughing and yelling loudly. However, Alice noticed that one of them lagged behind, silent and with his eyes on the ground. The customers inside the cafe looked quite irritated and wary as they saw the group approach. Alice quickly picked up the coffee jug, and made her way out just as the soldiers arrived inside. They took up the remaining booths, snatching up menus and finally quieting down a little.

Alice went to the first table, "Are you ready to order?" she asked. She held her pen poised in her slim fingers, the notepad resting in her palm.

One of the soldiers looked up. He eyed Alice up and down before speaking "I think _you're_ just what I ordered, honey." He said. Alice rolled her eyes; and so it began.

"Hey Mikey, make sure you leave leftovers; I'm starved." One of the others added.

"Call me over when you're ready." Alice snapped, shaking her head as she strode away. She could hear them laughing behind her.

"Its not your fault you're so pretty, baby." Babs said, her expression one of usual kindness.

"I just wish they could get a grip of themselves." Alice tutted.

"Excuse me, miss." A voice called.

"This ones getting coffee poured over him if he tries anything." Alice hissed. Babs chuckled and watched as Anna walked away.

It was the quiet boy. He was sat alone in his booth, fumbling with his hands and looking quite lost. Alice instantly let down her guard, and instead adopted a softer tone, "Yes, sir?" She asked.

"Could I get some coffee? Please?" He said.

"Sure." Alice happily poured some coffee into the mug on the table.

"I'm Jasper, by the way." The soldier told her.

"Alice." Alice smiled, taking away the coffee jug, "Enjoy your coffee." She walked away, turning her nose up as she passed the other soldiers.

Back behind the counter, she inspected her reflection in a spoon. Her features were slightly distorted this way, but reasonably recognisable. Her hair was black and stuck out spiky, she could never control it. Her skin was a little pale. Her eyelashes were thick, rimming her dark, wicked looking eyes. Her face, as stated by her mother, was just like a pixies.

"Who's caught your eye?" Babs smirked, making Alice jump and drop the spoon with a clatter. She picked it up clumsily, her face prickling with embarrassment.

"Nobody, I was just... checking something." She replied lamely.

Babs looked amused. She rested her hands on her wide hips, her round stomach and bosom stretching against the material of her pink uniform. "I'll take some of them off your hands for you. You take the quieter side." She offered.

"Thanks." Alice followed her colleague back over to the booths. She quickly scribbled down the orders that were yelled to her, struggling to keep up. She moved, flustered, over to the table where Jasper sat, still alone.

"More coffee?" She gasped, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Yes, please. I'm not hungry, though." Jasper told her. Alice nodded, pouring it out. Jasper suddenly looked a little embarrassed, "Hey, um, listen." He started.

"Hm?" Alice waited for him to go on.

"I was just wondering... I'm a little lonely back here. Would you mind sitting with me, for a while?" Jasper asked her.

"Ugh." Alice groaned. And she had believed that Jasper was different. She turned to walk away, but Jasper grabbed her wrist. It was a gentle hold, she could have broke away if she wanted to.

"Don't be mistaken, I simply want somebody to talk to. I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression." He said. His voice was pleading.

"I can't right now, but if you want an hour I know somewhere we can go." Alice suggested.

"Sure. Thanks." Jasper's face brightened up, and Alice noticed how handsome he was. He was very tall and slightly muscular, with a mop of honey blond hair. His eyes were a pale grey colour.

Alice smiled and walked away.


	2. Skin

An hour later, Alice removed her stained apron from over her pale yellow work dress, and made her way outside. Jasper was waiting for her by the truck, and as he straightened up, Alice saw that her assumptions had been right; he w_as_ tall. Probably over six foot. He smiled shyly at Alice.

"Where are we going?" He asked her as they started to walk.

"The pier. Its really pretty, you'll like it." Alice told him with a smile. Jasper asked no more, and let her lead him.

The pier was long, the cracked wood was soft and damp in places, showered with sand. The waves crashed against the wooden beams that held it up. Fairy lights were wrapped around the posts, but as it was day, they weren't lit. The sun was at its highest in the clear blue sky, making the sea glitter. A small boat was bobbing a little away, its sail blowing in the gentle breeze. They walked right down to the bottom, and sat down at the edge, legs swinging.

"This is beautiful." Jasper said softly.

"I've always loved it here. My dad brought me and my sister here a lot. There used to be an ice cream stand just over there." Alice told him, smiling at the memories, "But its a little cold today, I guess." She added as an afterthought.

"Would you like my jacket?" Jasper offered, gripping his heavy green canvas jacket.

"I'm okay." Alice glanced at him, "Where've you been fighting?" She asked, hoping that the subject wasn't tender.

"We haven't really. Its been training for the past few months. We've been to help out at a few bases, but nothing major. Tomorrow is when the real work starts." Jasper looked out at the sea.

"You must be scared." Alice assumed.

"A little." Jasper looked back to her with a smile, "I'll be fine though. They've taught us well."

"Are your family proud?" Alice asked.

"I don't have a family." Jasper told her. Alice looked confused, and he sighed, "My parents died about two years ago, and my sister went to live with my Aunt. I don't even know where she is, just that its a long way away. I can't even phone or write to her. It was only ever us four, the rest of our family were too far out. They never really bothered with any of us. So I have no one." Jasper folded his hands together, "I bet you have a loving family though. And a boyfriend." He said, not bitterly.

"A loving family, yes. But not a boyfriend." Alice replied.

"A girl of your beauty? I don't believe it." Jasper said.

Alice blushed, "I'm tired of dating. Nobody I ever get with is special. I'm tired of being hurt." She said quietly.

"I'd never hurt you." Jasper said quietly. They both looked away, embarassed. Then Jasper spoke again, "Say, would you mind doing one last thing for me?".

"Whats that?" Alice asked.

"I don't have anybody to write to. It gets lonely, I'd like something to smile at when times are getting hard. Will you write to me?" Jasper looked hesitant, afraid of being rejected.

"Of course I will." Alice replied, suddenly feeling a wave of emotion for him. It was horrible that he had no one at all, and all that he did have was taken from him.

"The address will change a lot, but I'll keep you posted." Jasper grinned at his bad joke.

Alice rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Here's mine." She always carried her pen behind her ear. She removed it and pulled Jasper's hand towards her. Carefully, she wrote down her address on his pale skin.

"Thanks so much, Alice." Jasper smiled, "I had better get back now." He stood up, and offered out his hand to lift Alice up.

Alice took it and pulled herself to her feet. Jasper dug his hands in his pockets as they made their way back. The walk seemed shorter than before. When they got back to the cafe, Alice wished that Jasper didn't have to go just yet. There was so much more she wanted to know about him. But they'd have letters for that, she supposed.

The others were back in the truck, and they started to jeer when they saw Jasper walking up with Alice at his side. "Get in there, Jaz!" One of them called. Jasper laughed apologetically.

"They're just like big kids, but you get used to them." He explained.

"Hm." Alice raised her eyebrows at the truck.

"I guess this is goodbye then. For now" Jasper said.

"For now." Alice agreed, "When will you be back?" She asked.

"I don't know. Maybe not for a while, but I'll write, I promise." Jasper said.

"Just don't give any of _them_my address." Alice warned.

"I'll keep it safe." Jasper promised with a chuckle.

Alice watched his lovely face as it glowed in the sun. Without thinking about it, she reached out and cupped her hand around his cheek. His skin was pleasantly warm. Jasper closed his eyes, and they stood there for a minute. Then he opened them again, "Bye, Alice." He said in a voice that was almost a whisper.

"Bye Jasper." Alice breathed.

Jasper moved away, looking very much like he wanted to stay. Alice's hand hovered in the same place for a moment before she moved it slowly into her pocket. She watched the truck drive away, sighing to herself.


	3. Home

The porch light was on when Alice got home. She skipped up the steps and let herself inside. The phone began to ring just as she passed the little table where it lay. Alice picked it up, "Hello?" She greeted.

"Alice, is your mother there?" A hurried voice came from the other line.

"Sure, Caroline. Just a second." Alice placed her over the receiver, "Mom, Caroline's on the phone!" She shouted.

A few moments later there was a sound of heels clacking on the floor. Lesley Brandon took the phone from her daughters hand, mouthing a quick thank you. She wore a pink short sleeved blouse and a knee length pleated khaki skirt. She fiddled with the pearls around her neck as she spoke. Lesley Brandon always mantained the "perfect" image.

Alice made her way to the kitchen, dropping her bag down onto the side and flinging her jacket on top of it. Erin was sat in the den, visible through the screen doors. She looked up at her sisters approach. Alice slid the door open and stepped inside. Stacks of paper were piled neatly around Erin, who was sat at the computer, in mid-type. She was so well organised, as always. Erin looked a lot like her sister, only with long hair and a more roundish face. It was obvious that she was the elder, too.

"Hey." She said, clicking something on the screen that made the computer shut down. She stood up, manoeuvring carefully around the stacks of paper.

"What're you working on?" Alice questioned.

"Some flyer's for mom, and a few letters she needed typing." Erin told her. She went to the kitchen and took an apple from the wooden fruit bowl, "I'm making a drink, want one?".

"Please." Alice nodded, sitting down on the one of the chairs around the island.

Erin got to work pouring out two glasses of orange juice. She passed one to Alice, and sat down across from her. "Somethings happened." She said, peering at her sister. It was an accusation, not an announcement. Alice rolled her eyes. How did Erin always know these things?

"You're right." Alice said, taking a long drink from her glass.

"So?" Erin eagerly pressed on for more.

"Well..." Alice started to explain about Jasper. When she had finished, Erin gasped, clasping her hands together.

"That's like some sort of movie! Oh wow, that's so sweet." She gushed, "I wish something like that would happen to _me_. He sounds so nice. Its so romantic."

"I don't know when he'll write to me though. I'm starting to doubt he will at all." Alice confessed.

"Are you real? Of course he's going to write to you! The guy sounds completely besotted." Erin insisted.

Alice smiled, "We'll just have to see. I'm going to take a shower." She announced, standing up. She finished the rest of her juice in two gulps, and stored the glass away into the dishwasher.

Her mother was just getting off the phone when Alice arrived at the bottom of the stairs. Lesley smiled, "Good day, honey?" She asked.

"Yeah." Alice said. She didn't want to tell her mother about Jasper, not unless she wanted a ten minute lecture about strangers.

"Good." Lesley smoothed down her daughter's wild hair, "I just wish you'd go to college, darling. You're wasting your life away at that diner." She sighed.

"Mom, I'm not even eighteen yet. I have plenty of time. I just don't know what I want to do yet." Alice told her, least of a dozen times.

"You'd be great with kids." Lesley suggested, "Looking after any type of person, really. You're so caring and bubbly, you'd be great for the job. And what about fashion? You always seemed interested in that."

"I'll think about it. Don't worry." Alice assured her mother.

Lesley smiled and kissed her daughters forehead, "You're a good girl, Alice." She said before walking away.

Alice started to climb the stairs, wishing with every step that her mother would stop asking her about college and "doing something with her life". She knew that her mom wanted to add "Why can't you be more like Erin?" at the end of every one of her lectures. Alice wanted to please her parents, and make them proud like her sister did, but she didn't know _how_ to. She was good with people, and being helpful, but she didn't want it as a job.

She was perfectly fine working at the diner for now, anyway. Babs was like a second mother to her, and the pay wasn't too bad. Her mother was just being her usual lecturing, disapproving self. She was, and had always been, picky and pushy. Alice loved her though. She just had to remind herself that sometimes.

Ten minutes later, as she washed her hair in the shower, Alice began to think of Jasper again. She hoped so badly that he would write. But she knew that he had a difficult job, and probably couldn't write that often. Probably not even straight away. This made Alice feel a little frustrated. Jasper was such a mystery, there was so much that she did not know about him.

But there was so much that Jasper didn't know about Alice, either. Her hand passed the scar on her side, and Alice winced. It was still sore, even though it shouldn't have been by now. She remembered the way the cold blade of the knife had felt against her skin, how his hot breath had grazed her face as he moved in closer... Alice shuddered and pushed the thought to the back of her mind. There were a lot of thoughts back there, prowling around in the dark.

Alice shut the shower off, and stepped out of it. The tiles felt cool and slippery under her feet, and the air was chilly. She wrapped her fluffy towel around her dripping body and sat down on the toilet seat for a moment. There was a knock on the door.

"Alice? Its me." Erin's voice called.

"Come in." Alice called back.

Erin walked in, closing the door behind her, "I just need to brush my teeth." She announced.

"Sure. I'm going to get dry, anyway." Alice told her, standing up and leaving.


End file.
